Senaka (Giruka) Taranata
Senaka Tarunata, 48,' '''is Kisu's uncle, the older brother of her father Tomasa Giruka. He takes Kisu to live with him in the city of Vod in the first book of the series. Life History As a Youth Born Senaka Giruka, Senaka grew up in a small Waiwu village on the border of the Empire in the High Sumps. Senaka always hated village life and, when he was 16, he left his village for industrial work at a nearby large city, taking the surname "Tarunata." At the factory, his associates introduced him to the small item black market, selling cheap, illicit goods. Unsatisfied with factory work, he made his way up and down the continent, working many odd jobs within the Empire. Eventually, he ended up as a sailor on a merchant ship to Cirnatterai. Senaka's voyages took him to the Four Edges of Hom (and, if his stories are to be believed, beyond the Edges) and everywhere in-between. Senaka paid attention to the traders that booked passage and freight on the ships he crewed. As a Baddergand After some years as a sailor, he set himself up as a merchant, specifically a ''baddergand, or a dealer of illicit goods (including all kinds of banned and exotic goods such as relics, animals, banned substances, and spirit icons). In earlier, meaner employment, Sen had learned to protect himself with dagger and bolt, but dealers on the baddergand market were far more dangerous than the mean curs he had learned to scare in sodden port bars. Strength and showmanship counted for little in this new game, and Sen adopted a more genteel demeanor. Sen operated both in league with and in opposition to the various criminal organizations that operate in the Empire. In time, Sen gained widespread notoriety as a trader of illicit goods and lived as a rich and powerful man in Buk. The Incident in Esth As Sen's riches grew, he found himself at odds with a shadowy group of powerful baddergands called the Hai Sgain (or Three-strand Cord). Sen managed to avoid or defeat the group's opposing activities until one fateful night in the foreign city of Esth. The Hai Sgain waylaid and killed two of Sen's business partners, including his closest friend, Onaru Eikanaka. A third associate, stabbed in the neck and thought dead, barely escaped with his life. Sen himself was not caught, as he was separate from his comrades when they were ambushed. Having discovered the plot, he escaped on a ship to the Empire, leaving everything else behind besides the goods he carried on his person (the Darleiquin Broach, roughly 400 thums of gold and 15 thums of mithril). As the ship steamed to its Imperial port, the Hai Sgain trapped Sen in a dream state. According to his story, Sen lay in this possession for nearly three days before a fellow passenger freed him and sold him a warding spell for protection (for which Sen gladly parted with what money he had remaining). Upon his return to the Empire (where the Sai Hgain have little reach), Sen began to study the Venetera Quondera and significantly reduced his foreign operations. As a Respectable Trader Although Sen considered himself safe from the Hai Sgain inside the borders of the Empire, he found his previous levels of profit impossible to maintain due to the high cost of operating under the Empire's strict rule of law. Unwilling to return to small-time street deals, Sen took up trading in respectable goods. Eventually, after the Hai Sgain's catastrophic defeat at the hands of combined Imperial, Tuskian, and Anduustrangian expeditionaries at, Sen once again began trading overseas, this time in respectable goods... mostly. He returned briefly to Esth to recover the Onaru's remains, but was unable to discover anything. He believes they may exist in the fabled jungle city of Tanque, the mythical home of the Hai Sgain. Political Beliefs Senaka has little love for the Mikado, whom he considered to be a figment of Imperial propaganda. He is part of the Pragmatist movement. Current Situation At the beginning of the Kisu books, Senaka continues to travel the world to deal in the most valued of goods, not all of which are technically legal. He lives in the aristocratic part of Vod-upon-Pale with a servant staff over seen by Mrs. Prudence. general character He's a self-made man, so entrepeneurial, he instinctively sees a way to make a profit whereever he happens to be. He's a fighter and not easily intimidated (except by Kata perhaps). He has seen a lot. Lost close friends. Perhaps he himself has killed. he has been rich and he has been poor. He has been unstoppable and utterly vulnerable. So he has a lot of perspective on life. But he is not a particularly deep thinker. Category:People Category:Contemporary People Category:Characters